lastrycjusz

Hi there.
I never thought I'd need a roof luggage box or anything like it so I decided to configure my GLC SUV without roof rails. Unfortunately, the day came and it seems that the possibility of putting some load on the roof would be a plus for me (to be honest - I have some woodden struts to buy and they are long enough so they won't fit inside but there's so few of them that no sane mill will sell me them with shipping.
I thought about roof rack but I don't have OEM rails.
I'm a bit afraid of all those roof-edge installation racks that they will scratch my roof (and a friend of my had serious leaks into the inside of the car because the seal along the door edge was not sealing the door properly after installing such rack.
Is there any reasonable possibility of retrofitting a factory roof rails? If so, can anyone provide me with needed part numbers?

Best regards,
MK

chassis

What about renting a cargo trailer, U-Haul or pickup truck, or some combination thereof to haul the wood?

Roof rails have through fasteners into the roof sheet metal. While not impossible, shops may be reluctant. Porsche dealers won’t add rails after the fact because of damage, appearance and leak risks.

lastrycjusz

For a trailer I'd need a towing hook which I don't have either
To rent anything just for this would be a huge overkill. I thought about roof rails because the rack could after all come handy again in the future.
I see your point though. If the rails indeed do need drilling in the roof sheet then I'd definitely not go for it.

chassis

Rent or borrow. Rent a pickup from Home Depot or similar. Tie the wood to the roof of the truck with it wedged against the tailgate.

Rent a full size SUV from Enterprise for one day. It likely has roof rails.

Both of the above ideas are less than $100. Roof rails on a GLC that doesn't have them will be 10x the cost, or more. And the roof might leak.

lastrycjusz

Yeah, I forgot that this is MB and everything has to be expensive as hell ;-) And indeed the necessity to drill the roof is the ultimate argument against the idea.
Maybe I'll have to rent something for a day indeed. Haven't thought about it to be honest and it seems cheaper than I thought (should be around 50$ per day).
Thanks for the idea.

Teckno

” I thought about roof rack but I don't have OEM rails.“

Have you considered high density foam ‘racks’ designed to carry Kayaks and surf boards ?

Theses stretch across roof and are held in place with webbing straps, fold up into a carry bag. I presume purchase from a surf shop or outdoor Watersport outlet.

lastrycjusz

Never heard about such things. Nice to know about it. I'll check it out.

Teckno

Check Amazon, soft or foldable roof racks, some sell kayak shaped blocks too.
There are about a dozen manuf out there with varying features and price points.
Just make sure base are not rough or sandy as they will create scratch or rub marks on roof. Only fit them when you want to use to avoid roof noise or wind rub,vibration.
Handy to store under trunk for opportune purchasing !!

High Technology

Does your GLC have the flush rails on the sides of the roof that run from front to back, and are you only in need of the optional crossbars? I see you're in Europe, so the GLCs in your country may be configured without the side rails (whereas I think the US versions have them as standard equipment).

If you have the flush side rails, then you can easily add after-market crossbars for about one-quarter of the Mercedes dealership cost for the OEM ones -- they install by clamping to the factory installed side rails that run front to back (which is similar to how the OEM crossbars install).